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SWITZERLAND READY TO ASSIST HUNGARY, ARMENIA: BERN
Expatica Switzerland
http://www.expatica.com/ch/news/swiss-news/switzerland-ready-to-assist-hungary-armenia-bern_242685.html
Sept 5 2012
Switzerland is prepared to assist Hungary and Armenia, whose relations
have soured over the killer of an Armenian soldier in Budapest, the
Swiss foreign ministry said Wednesday without specifically referring
to the murder case.
Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter had offered support when
he met his Hungarian counterpart Janos Martonyi in Bern on Monday,
ministry spokesman Jean-Marc Crevoisier told AFP.
"Switzerland maintains friendly relations with Hungary and Armenia
and ... is prepared to provide assistance if wanted. This is in line
with our foreign policy," he wrote in an email.
Crevoisier did not however mention the tensions between Budapest and
Yerevan over the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani officer who
axed an Armenian soldier to death in Budapest in 2004.
He had been serving a life sentence in Hungary for the killing,
but after Budapest extradited him to Baku last week he immediately
received a pardon from Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev.
On Wednesday, the Hungarian foreign minister hinted that Switzerland
had agreed to help calm his country's tensions with Armenia over the
Safarov case.
"During my visit to Bern on Monday, Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter
offered his assistance to smoothe Hungarian-Armenian relations,"
Martonyi told Hungarian public radio MR1.
"All means must be used to fix the situation and improve relations
between Hungary and Armenia," he added, pointing out that Switzerland
was traditionally a neutral country with broad mediation experience.
Hungary says it was assured by Azerbaijan that Safarov would serve
out his sentence in his home country, and the pardon, coupled with
promotion to the rank of major, the award of a house and eight years'
back-pay, enraged Armenia and brought criticism from Europe, the
United States and Russia.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a long-running conflict over
the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh, where they fought a war in
the 1990s.
From: A. Papazian
Expatica Switzerland
http://www.expatica.com/ch/news/swiss-news/switzerland-ready-to-assist-hungary-armenia-bern_242685.html
Sept 5 2012
Switzerland is prepared to assist Hungary and Armenia, whose relations
have soured over the killer of an Armenian soldier in Budapest, the
Swiss foreign ministry said Wednesday without specifically referring
to the murder case.
Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter had offered support when
he met his Hungarian counterpart Janos Martonyi in Bern on Monday,
ministry spokesman Jean-Marc Crevoisier told AFP.
"Switzerland maintains friendly relations with Hungary and Armenia
and ... is prepared to provide assistance if wanted. This is in line
with our foreign policy," he wrote in an email.
Crevoisier did not however mention the tensions between Budapest and
Yerevan over the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani officer who
axed an Armenian soldier to death in Budapest in 2004.
He had been serving a life sentence in Hungary for the killing,
but after Budapest extradited him to Baku last week he immediately
received a pardon from Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev.
On Wednesday, the Hungarian foreign minister hinted that Switzerland
had agreed to help calm his country's tensions with Armenia over the
Safarov case.
"During my visit to Bern on Monday, Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter
offered his assistance to smoothe Hungarian-Armenian relations,"
Martonyi told Hungarian public radio MR1.
"All means must be used to fix the situation and improve relations
between Hungary and Armenia," he added, pointing out that Switzerland
was traditionally a neutral country with broad mediation experience.
Hungary says it was assured by Azerbaijan that Safarov would serve
out his sentence in his home country, and the pardon, coupled with
promotion to the rank of major, the award of a house and eight years'
back-pay, enraged Armenia and brought criticism from Europe, the
United States and Russia.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a long-running conflict over
the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh, where they fought a war in
the 1990s.
From: A. Papazian